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You know how the word "nigger" is viewed by many? That it was one of the most dehumanizing terms that could ever be used to describe a black human being? Yes, it is of course used by many as a term of endearment while many people, ESPECIALLY older black people abhor the term being used in that sense by the younger generations... but that topic is neither here nor there at this point in the thread. There was a time that our people who were enslaved in North America called themselves and one another niggers because that is all that they were ever called and that is all that many ever knew. At some point, others referring to us as "niggers" became 'fightin' words' and though the term is used as a term of endearment among black people, certain people referring to us as "niggers" still makes for fightin words for the most part. On the other hand, our using the term "the slaves" in reference to our ancestors who were enslaved is considered by some of us a way in which we deny them their humanity, and it is not something that most of us do consciously. However, this reference is used often, by others and by ourselves. In addition to our playing into the denial of their humanity, we also play into the severing of ties with our people when they are "the slaves". That is kind of like a book (and it was not a novel, it was autobiographical) that I once read in which the mother referred to her daughter as "The Child". She of course "was" her child, but then again, if my mother is a woman, does it not show a lack of connection to her if I constantly refer to her as "The Woman"? So then we get into more than just semantics here; we get into the power of relationships to definitions and also, we get also into defining relationships. Maybe one day, the use of the term "the slaves" will be frowned upon much as the use of the term "nigger" is frowned upon.Maybe we will one day refer to our ancestors that came to the Americas as our people who were enslaved, human beings who were forced to slave on sugar cane plantations, cotton plantations, in rice fields and so on. Our people who were enslaved whose humanity escaped not only those who had enslaved them but also once by those had been descended from them. On the flipside, who is to say that Joe Oliver is not a prophet? He said that we call ourselves coonasses as a term of endearment. Maybe he was not defending George Zimmerman but speaking of things to come. :-O "Sup, Coonass?" "Yo, datz my main COONASS over THERE!" (Where dey do dat at? Oh, Joe Oliver said Louisiana. Who knows...)

I just published a blog post: http://www.cbpublish.com/writing-tips-amazon-kdp-support-kenp-10-000-pages-read-for-100/ This blog post is in regard to KENP for those who have books on Amazon Kindle. Check it out and then look at the fees associated with renting from the Lending Library. How are other companies going to compete with Amazon when they are able to pay writer's on a lended book? Amazon prime is an amazing loss leader for Amazon and it definitely signals the end for a lot of small companies.